Senior guard scores game-winning shot with 4.5 seconds left.

Tony Johnson pointed out all of the little plays his teammates made in the second half of Saturday's game to help Lafayette come back from 11 points down against Bucknell.

There were plenty.

Seth Hinrichs and Joey Ptasinski hit key shots in combining for 34 points. Levi Giese's defensive effort on Bison center Mike Muscala in the second half slowed down the league's player of the year in waiting.

On and on.

But with the game's outcome hanging in the balance, Leopards coach Fran O'Hanlon kept things simple by putting the ball in Johnson's hands.

The senior captain's transition drive and finish got Lafayette within a point with 50 seconds left, and then he hit the game-winning pull-up jumper with 4.5 seconds remaining to give Lafayette a 63-62 victory in front of a large crowd at the Kirby Sports Center.

It also kept Lafayette (13-14 overall, 6-4 PL) alone in third place in the Patriot League, one game clear of Army, which beat Navy.

The loss did nothing to affect what Monday's game means for Bucknell (21-5, 8-2). Lehigh (18-6, 8-2) also lost Saturday — at Colgate. The Bison return to the Lehigh Valley to play the Mountain Hawks in a battle for first place. The loser finds itself that much closer to third place. The winner has the upper hand on the regular-season title with three games left.

But Saturday's game did plenty to boost the Leopards' confidence after getting whipped at home Wednesday by Army.

It also reaffirmed what Lafayette has in Johnson.

"He's a problem," Bison coach Dave Paulsen said of Johnson. "He kind of took the game over down the stretch."

Bucknell has only itself to blame for letting this one get away. Lafayette again played without Dan Trist (ankle injury) and several others were in foul trouble early and often trying to contain Muscala, who finished with 29 points and 15 rebounds.

But the Bison center didn't score in the final 5 minutes, 51 seconds. He didn't get a touch on Bucknell's last two possessions.

Some of that was Lafayette's improved defense after halftime.

"We were doing everything we could to help [Giese] out on the last possession," Johnson admitted. "We wanted to keep the ball out of [Muscala's] hands. At that point, we wanted anybody else to beat us."

Some was Bucknell's perimeter problems.

"Our poise offensively was bad in the second half," Paulsen said. "You're not going to win a lot of games on the road against a team as good as Lafayette if you go 10 for 15 from the foul line, turn it over like we did [14 times] and let a team score 38 points in the second half."

After Johnson's go-ahead basket, Bucknell had a final chance. But Cameron Ayers, who had 17 of his 20 points in the second half, came up short from about 23 feet as time expired.

Lafayette's offense struggled mightily in the first half. After Hinrichs' 3-pointer at the 15:55 mark, the Leopards didn't get another basket until the sophomore forward's trey with 1:46 showing.

But they lost only nine points in that span, in part because they made 10 consecutive free throws (11 of 12 overall) in that stretch and played well defensively against everyone not named Muscala.

"I think we just continued to play defense," Johnson said. "The previous game, we gave up too many open shots to Army and they got out to too big of a lead. [Against Bucknell], we were only down 10, 12 points. That's more manageable."

Lafayette's defensive effort improved in the second half against Muscala, with Giese doing his best to front him and getting weak-side help. Johnson also helped off of his man to make entry passes more difficult.

"I just thought we played with terrific heart," O'Hanlon said.

Johnson fiinished with 17 points. Conversely, Bucknell has problems at point guard. The threesome combined for zero points for the second time the last three games. Plus Bryson Johnson, the league's all-time 3-pointer leader, and fellow 1,000-point scorer Joe Willman combined to shoot 2-for-16 from the field.

Lafayette exploited Bucknell's weaknesses and took advantage of its own offensive versatility to get back in it. Bryce Scott's only field goal, a 3-pointer, pulled the Leopards within 51-50 with 8:55 left.

Giese's only 3-pointer gave the hosts a 54-53 lead, their first since the 15:55 mark of the first half.

"Down the stretch, their key guys made big plays and big shots and certainly we didn't have enough poise," Paulsen said. "I thought our defensive focus the first 10 minutes of the second half was the worst it's been all year."

And Lafayette's defense the last 20 minutes couldn't have been much better.